I have a question about the phrase “On the rocks” - or rather, my sister does. Anyone know why it is when drinkers want ice cubes in their alcohol or wish for an unblended drink they use this phrase?
I look forward to any and all suggestions or answers. I have a 17 year old sister with a burning dseire to know this. 
I’ve been ordering my margaritas (lime, with no salt) this way for years and never gave it a second thought.
~Liz
I always assumed “rocks” were slang for “ice cubes”. Am I wrong?
According to this link, rocks as slang for ice cubes is a recent term, dating to 1946.
As mentioned, “rocks” = ice cubes. I’m sure you can see the derivation.
“On the rocks,” however, does not exactly mean unblended. If you ask for a “scotch on the rocks” as opposed to “scotch and water,” then yes, you’ll get plain scotch on ice rather than scotch mixed with water. But if you ask for “scotch and water on the rocks,” you’ll get scotch mixed with water on ice. For an unblended scotch without ice, you ask for it “neat” (straight from the bottle) or “up” (chilled – usually strained through ice – but without other ingredients).
See the “How would you like that?” section from here: http://cocktails.about.com/library/weekly/aa051500a.htm
Another usage: If your marriage or romance is “on the rocks,” it’s just about sunk. It’s a metaphor to a boat which has crashed on a rocky shore. :eek:
Or, in response to how Larry is doing, “on the rocks” usually means Larry is cold, paranoid, and without a doubt poor.
The discussion of scotch is irrelevant. Drinks that are traditionally blended – margaritas, most notably – are not blended if they’re ordered “on the rocks.” I don’t know anyone who orders margaritas neat, but I suppose one could.
“Love on the rocks - ain’t no surprise…”
I may have misinterpreted “unblended.” I took it to mean “not mixed with anything,” such as scotch without water, hence my using scotch as an example.
I gather you’re referring to running a cocktail through a blender. It never occurred to me that there might be an association between using/not using a blender and serving with/without ice cubes. As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t drink margaritas.
“And I mean ice!”
It’s one of my favourite minor gags from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
It’s a nautical thing. Boats sometimes end up ‘on the rocks’ or like the Titanic, hit an iceberg, thus the cubes. Same style of calamity.